This is a car that I can honestly say I’ve have never seen before. When I stumbled across this mid-60s Studebaker the other day, I had absolutely no clue what make or model it was. The chrome ‘Studebaker’ on the trunk gave the marque away, but it was only after consulting my vintage auto consultants at Atascadero Speed Emporium that I learned a little about the lineage of this handsome survivor.
[This model,] one of the final regurgitations of Studebakers based on the beautiful Lowey Starlight coupes body from 1953, is from the mid or late 60s, whenever Studebaker finally bit the dust. The front end is pure Studebaker Lark which I think first came out in 1963. The company kept redoing the sheet metal on that Lowey [coupe] body for about 15 years and actually did some pretty neat updates, particularly the Lark. By the time they got to this particular model, just about everything had been modified including the windshield, door frames, roof line and c-pillars and, of course, the fenders and rear quarter panels.
Aside from a bit of grime on the paint, and a missing ‘B’ on the decklid, this sedan is in outstanding shape. The body is clean, the paint and trim look terrific. Style-wise, I found it handsome, if a bit of a mish-mash, which, after hearing of it’s odd lineage, make sense. But overall, I really enjoyed looking at it. In particular, the front face – the big grille and the twin-headlight design – and the amber wings atop the front fenders were highlights for me. I also dug the mag wheels and chrome streak along the bodyside.
Studebaker is one of many late, great American marques, once pillars of our industrial economy, now just relics of an age long past. Like DeSoto, Willys, Oldsmobile, Plymouth, this once powerful name now lives on only in our collective memory or, thanks to survivors like this, occasionally on the streets of San Francisco. For that, I offer thanks to the devoted owner who has maintained his plucky old chariot through years of care, upkeep, and fleeting trends. Consider, this sedan is nearly 50 years old, still running around on unleaded, moving its occupants to and fro. Wonderful.